Harness



L. W. HAMPTON.

(NoModeL) HARNESS.

No. 451,821. Patnted May 5, 1891.

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INVENTOH:

A TTOHNE Y8 PATENT OFFICE.

LA\VSON TV. HAMPTON, OF ELIZABETHTON, TENNESSEE.

HARNESS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 451,821, dated May 5, 1891.

Application filed January 12, 1891. Serial No. 377,468. (No model.)

To all Ll/72 0172 it may concern.-

Be it known that-I, LAWSON WV. HAMPTON, of Elizabethton, in the county of Carter and State of Tennessee, have invented a new and Improved Harness, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact specification.

My invention is an improvement in that class of harnesses in which traces and breeching are dispensed with and the attachment of the harness to the shafts of a vehicle is made by means of tugs connected with the girth and breast-collar by some suitable means.

My invention consists in the means I employ for this purpose, as hereinafter described.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar figures and letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views.

Figure 1 illustrates the application of the harness to the shafts of a vehicle and to the horse. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of a saddle. Fig. 3 is a plan view of one end of the girth. Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the girth, the sad dle, the shaft, and the tug-strap, illustrating the manner of connecting the same. Fig. 5 is a longitudinal section through the tug device applied to a shaft. Fig. 6 is a transverse section through the shaft, taken on the line a: a; of Fig. 5. Fig. 7 is a transverse section taken on the line y y of Fig. 8, and Fig. 8 is a central vertical section through a slightlymodified form of the tug device.

The saddle 10 has pendent from each side a billet 11, the said billets being attached above tongueless buckles 12, the said buckles being secured to the ends of a strap 13, secured directly upon the saddle. The girth 14 at each endwhas secured longitudinally thereto a strap 15, and to the outer end of each strap a tongueless buckle 16 is attached, provided upon its outer member with a friction pulley or collar 17. At the opposite end of the strap a metal eye 18 is located, and the-ends of the shaft-strap 19 have secured thereto a similar eye 20, the eyes 20 of the shaft-strap and the eyes 18 of the girth-strap 15 being connected by rings 21 or their equivalcnts. The rings 21 are held by means of the straps and eyes, as above described, in the position required to receive and hold the shaftsthat is to say, they are at an angle or edgewise to the girth, while the eyes 18 and 21 lie flatwise thereon.

Upon each member of the shafts A a tug device B is secured, the said device being located nearer the forward than the rear ends of the members. The tug device usually consists of a hollow cylinder 22, in which a rod 23 is held to slide, the said rod being provided at its rear end with a head 24., loosely fitted to the interior of the cylinder, and the forward end of the rod,which extends through an opening in the forward end of the cylinder, is provided with an eye 25. The rod within the cylinder is surrounded by a coil or spiral spring 26. The cylinder of the tug device is located upon the top of the shaft, and is secured thereon by passing bolts 27 through a sleeve 28, integral with the cylinder, and into the shaft, the said sleeve being made to entirely surround the shaft, as shown in Fig. 6, or to partially surround it, as illustrated in Fig. 5.

A stop-bracket 30 is secured upon the under surface of the shaft beneath the cylinder 22 of the tug device when the sleeve of the said device does not extend entirely around the shaft; but when the sleeve does surround the shaft the stop-bracket is secured to the lower portion of the sleeve. This bracket usually consists of a metal bar bolted or otherwise secured to the sleeve or to the shaft and having its forward end carried downward and upward, forming a vertical bearing surface or shoulder a. The stop-bracket 30 may, however, be dispensed with, in which event the sleeve 28 of the cylinder 22 of the tug device is made in clip form, as illustrated at b in Figs. 7 and 8, the flanges at the lower ends of the sleeve serving as a stop and also as a means of clamping the cylinder upon the shaft, which is accomplished by passing bolts through the said flanges, as is best shown in Fig. 7. A short tug-strap 31 is employed pro vided at one end with a snap 32.

In harnessing the horse to the vehicle the members of the shaft are passed through the rings 21, carried by the girth, and the billets 11 of the saddle are passed downward back of and up through the tongueless buckles 16 at the ends of the girth, thence upward ward ends of said tug-straps being connected with the hames or with the breast-strap of v the harness in the usual manner.

It will be observed that a horse fitted with a harness constructed as above described may be quickly attached to the shafts of a vehicle and that the entire rear portion of the body of the animal is untrammeled; also, that the whiifletree may be readily discarded, as the springs 26 and the rods 23 0f the tug devices give and take sufficiently to relieve the shoulders of the horse from all jarring strain when drawing the vehicle.

WVhen the animal has been properly harnessed, the rings 21 are prevented from sliding too far to the rear by the stop-brackets 30 or their equivalents; and it will be seen that the stop-brackets are very essential, as they form a bearing for the rings when the vehicle is to be backed.

Having thus described n1yinvention,Iclai1n 30 as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent' 1. In a harness, the combination,with a saddle provided with the billets 11. and tongueless buckles 12, of the girth 14, provided with 35 the tongueless buckles 16, the eyes 18 and 20, the rings 21, connecting the eyes, and the buckles 33 between the tongneless buckles 16 and the eyes 18, substantially as herein shown. and described.

2. In a harness, the combination, with the shafts of a vehicle, and compensating tug devices secured upon the members of the shafts between their ends, consisting of a hollow cylinder and a spring-controlled rod held to 45 slide in the cylinder, of a saddle having billets pendent fromits sides, a girth provided with tongueless buckles at its ends, buckles below the tongueless buckles, eyes below the buckles, rings suspended from the eyes, and 5 tug-straps provided with snaps at their ends, the rear snaps being adapted for connection with the spring-controlled rods of the tug devices, as and for the purpose specified.

LAWVSON W. HAMPTON.

Witnesses:

J. A. J ONES, IsAAc GRINDS'IAFF. 

